16:31Luke 16:31

The verse closes the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which contrasts those who live without dependence on God with the poor who trust Him and endure suffering, showing their conditions reversed after death with the rich tormented and Lazarus comforted.COL 260.2–3+2 Moses and the prophets mean the law and the prophets, the Old Testament Scriptures, which are God's appointed means of giving saving light, warning and duty, so that those who heed them need no greater light.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2 Those who refuse to hear that revealed truth will not be persuaded even if one rises from the dead, for rejection of truth is not cured by a miracle or greater light.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2 This was proved true when Christ raised Lazarus of Bethany after four days dead, and Lazarus bore testimony to His divine power, yet the leaders hardened their hearts against all evidence and sought to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.ST Jun 1, 1915+2 Each person fixes eternal destiny in this life while grace is offered during probation, and by willful disobedience forms a gulf between self and God that cannot be bridged after death.COL 260.1+2

Luke 16:31 belongs to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which contrasts those who do not depend on God with the poor who trust Him and patiently endure suffering.COL 260.2–3 It is a lasting lesson for both rich and poor, showing their positions one day reversed after death, with the rich man tormented and Lazarus comforted.COL 260.2–3+2 That reversal answers the good and evil received in this life, Dives suffering while Lazarus is comforted.STBk 158.1+1

The dialogue between Abraham and the once-rich man is figurative.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+1 Christ framed the parable around beliefs many of His hearers already held in order to teach important truths and show them their true relation to God.ST Jun 1, 1915

The rich man represents people among the Jews who had received abundant temporal and spiritual blessings and the sacred truths entrusted to them.Ms 81, 1898, par. 18–19+1 They used those blessings selfishly, refusing to use them to help others, and refused warning.Ms 81, 1898, par. 18–19+1 Entrusted with sacred truth and instructed to care for the poor, strangers, and those in need, the Jewish nation was in this condition, proud of its favored status and unwilling to share its blessings.COL 267.3

His misplaced regard for Abraham exposed the nation's failure to let God's Spirit shape its life and to use its privileges, gifts, and light to bless and enlighten the world.COL 269.1 That failure included not caring for the poor, strangers, and needy as required.COL 267.3 Trusting in descent from Abraham did not make it faithful to God, and neglect of divine light and disregard of eternity led to ruin.COL 269.1+1

Moses and the prophets mean the law and the prophets, the Old Testament Scriptures, which are God's appointed means of giving saving light and warning and showing duty, and those who heed them need no greater light.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+3 That message is truth as it is in Jesus, the same truth He proclaimed when enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, and it remains verity in the present day with power to renovate the mind of everyone who receives it as it renovated minds in the past.Lt 230, 1906, par. 3+1 Jesus places the highest esteem on those Scriptures and makes them the decisive test of truth, continually leading minds back to that mine of truth, beginning with the first book of Moses and tracing through all the prophets.ST Sep 19, 1878+1

They bear essential witness to Christ, revealing the Saviour and His mission and tracing His life, mission, suffering, death, and resurrection.3SP 208.3+3 Comparing their prophecies with New Testament history gives stronger proof that He is the world's Redeemer than miracles alone, and faith in Him must be grounded in what they teach, with His death foretold there serving as evidence for faith rather than reason to abandon hope.COS 181.6–183.1+1 Jesus therefore relied on Old Testament prophecy rather than performing a miracle to establish His identity as the risen Redeemer, giving a full and clear explanation of prophecy to settle identity and show that all had been foretold.ST Sep 19, 1878+2

Their witness already gives clear assurance of forgiveness and the plain command to stop sinning, as authoritative as if Christ spoke personally or someone returned from the dead.Lt 10, 1887, par. 6 That command includes loving God with all heart, soul, and might and loving neighbor as self, a duty laid on the one acquainted with God's command who as steward is accountable for entrusted means, capabilities, knowledge, and talents in proportion to abundance, to help just such cases as the beggar and cooperate with God in mercy by uplifting humanity.COL 261.4 It is the standard for testing doctrine and faith against God's immutable law.Ms 86, 1886, par. 24–26

God gives each person sufficient light and grace in proportion to opportunities, privileges, and required duties, so responsibility is measured by opportunity and privilege.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2 If one fails to do what a little light shows to be duty, greater light would only reveal unfaithfulness and neglect to improve given blessings.COL 265.4 Those willing to do God's will can know that His teaching is from Him, for He is the foundation of faith, goodness, and mercy.Ms 81, 1898, par. 28–32

Those who refuse to hear Moses and the prophets will not be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead, for rejection of revealed truth is not cured by a miracle or by greater light.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+4 God has appointed means to give light and warning, and when that light is rejected and a person chooses his own way and becomes settled in his course, God does not work a miracle to convince him.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2 Demanding a sign or a messenger from the dead when abundant evidence and light have already been given hardens the heart and closes the ways by which God would reach the soul.Lt 4, 1889, par. 87+2 Such a demand casts reflection upon God, as if to say He had not warned thoroughly enough, and it springs from a will closed to truth, settled in its own course and imaginings.Lt 14, 1897, par. 10+2

Those who made this demand were hardened in unbelief so that they would not recognize God's likeness in Christ's character nor see His mission fulfilling the Scriptures, and no sign from heaven or earth could benefit them.DA 407.2 More evidence does not bring repentance when the light already given is disregarded, but only reveals neglect and unfaithfulness and hardens accountability.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2 God knows when a sinner has sufficient evidence, and greater light is of no use if the person will not choose to obey.Lt 12a, 1888, par. 6–8+2 Responsibility is measured by opportunity and privilege, for each one receives sufficient light and grace for the duties required of him, and failure to do what a little light shows to be duty means greater light would only expose unfaithfulness.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21+2

Conversion requires accepting known truth, choosing to do God's will, cooperating with the Spirit, and receiving Christ's transforming grace to cleanse and purify the soul.Ms 13, 1892, par. 18+3 More light or stronger evidence cannot convert one settled in disobedience, and those willing to do God's will can know His teaching is from Him, for He is the foundation of faith, goodness, and mercy.2MR 34.3–35.3+2 Faith without obedience is dead, and the peace claimed while transgressing God's law is only self-righteous confidence.ST Jul 31, 1901 Those who will not be moved by the plain truths of God's word will not be moved by anything greater.EW 42.1+2

Not all the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai would move them, and an angel's message would not awake them.EW 42.1+1 If they will not hear Moses and the prophets they remain in unbelief, ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God, refusing to search the Scriptures for themselves.ST Jul 31, 1901 Instead they accept fables in place of truth while transgressing God's law, claiming His promises and professing faith in Christ in vain.ST Jul 31, 1901

The saying applies to the Jewish nation, which rejected the law and the prophets and then rejected the evidence of Christ's divinity.Ms 6, 1899, par. 15–21 It was proved true when Christ performed His last and crowning miracle in raising Lazarus of Bethany after four days dead as wonderful evidence of His divinity.ST Jun 1, 1915+1 Lazarus rose and bore his testimony before them, yet they hardened their hearts against all evidence.COL 265.2–3+1 Although his return to life gave evidence upon evidence of divine power, the leaders sought to kill both Jesus and Lazarus rather than accept the truth.ST Jun 1, 1915+2 Many rejected Jesus despite that testimony, showing that those who would not hear the witness already given would not be persuaded by a witness raised from the dead.COL 265.2–3+1

Jesus therefore placed the highest esteem on Moses and the prophets and made them the decisive test of truth.ST Sep 19, 1878 He continually carried minds back to that precious mine of truth, beginning with the first book of Moses and tracing through all the prophets the inspired proof of His life, mission, suffering, death, and resurrection.ST Sep 19, 1878 Rather than working a miracle to prove He was the risen Redeemer, He gave a full and clear explanation of prophecy to settle identity and show that all had been foretold.ST Sep 19, 1878+2

That warning to the Jews was remembered and understood at the destruction of Jerusalem.COL 269.2 When calamity came upon the city with starvation and suffering of every kind, the people remembered these words and understood the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.COL 269.2 They understood they had brought their suffering upon themselves by neglecting to let their God-given light shine forth to the world.COL 269.2 The same principle applies to the clear truths for the present time, for rejecting their evidence leaves a person unmoved by a greater wonder.Lt 247, 1903, par. 6–7

Eternal destiny is decided in this life, while grace is offered to every soul during probation.COL 260.1+1 Those who waste their opportunities in self-pleasing cut themselves off from everlasting life.COL 260.1+1 There is no further probation granted after this life.COL 260.1+1 By their own choice they fix an impassable gulf between themselves and God, and that gulf is one of disobedience and wrongly developed character, for Abraham served God by following His word in faith and obedience while the rich man was unmindful of God and of suffering humanity.COL 260.1+2

The closing of the rich man's history portrays the closing scenes of this earth's history.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36+1 The rich man represents the unconverted professor who joins in church service, reads Scripture, and sings of longing after God, yet is no more righteous than the veriest sinner because he does not praise Him with heart and understanding.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36+1 The soul full of love for display, worldly pleasure, theater, dress, parade, games, racing, and appetite lives for self-love and self-gratification, refuses to war against the lust of the flesh, indulges appetite, and chooses the atmosphere of sin.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36+1 Such a one forms character in copartnership with satanic agencies and is suddenly snatched away by death with that character fixed.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36+1 In the grave there is no power to choose good or evil, for in the day a man dies his thoughts perish.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36+1

When God's voice wakens the dead he comes from the grave with the same unholy appetites, passions, likes and dislikes cherished in life.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36 God works no miracle to re-create one who would not be re-created when every opportunity and facility was granted him.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36 He never accustomed himself to find pleasure in contemplating God or in serving Him, and could not be happy in the royal family, and thus with his own hands he formed a chasm that nothing can bridge.Ms 81, 1898, par. 34–36 When probation ends the rich man loses the wealth he treated as his own.COL 267.1 He cannot take anything from this life nor obtain Christ's righteousness after probation is over, and his condition after death cannot be changed.ST Jun 1, 1915+1

Riches themselves carry no guilt when they have not been gained by injustice, and possession of wealth does not bring condemnation.COL 266.1 Condemnation falls when entrusted means are spent in selfishness, for the one who does so proves an unfaithful steward who had his good things in this lifetime while forgetting obligation to God and failing to secure heavenly treasure.COL 266.1 Faithful use lays up means beside the throne of God by doing good, and death cannot make poor the one who devotes himself to seeking eternal riches, while the one who hoards treasure for self can take none of it to heaven.COL 266.1

Possessions are gifts lent by the Lord to honor the Creator by blessing the world and uplifting humanity.COL 266.1+1 Misusing them for self-gratification places a person below even the poorest and most afflicted one who loves and trusts God.ST Jun 1, 1915 The rich man in the parable was a Jew acquainted with God's command to love God with all heart, soul, and might and to love neighbor as self, and as such a steward accountable for entrusted means, capabilities, knowledge, and talents.COL 261.4 His duty was measured by his abundance, to help just such cases as the beggar at his gate and to cooperate with God in mercy.COL 261.4+1 He did not fail for lack of opportunity to understand and practice God's word, but because pleasure absorbed him, he forgot accountability and the God of eternity, left talents unimproved, lent money for interest while returning no interest to God, employed abundant blessings selfishly to honor himself rather than his Maker, and let pleasure, amusements, and praise of friends occupy his time until he lost all sense of responsibility.COL 261.4+1

His neglect of Lazarus illustrates failure to live by revealed truth already given through Moses and the prophets, which if unheeded leaves a person unpersuaded even by one rising from the dead.COL 261.2 Though entrusted with money to be used for God's glory and required work, he lived sumptuously and refused to help from his abundance.ST Jun 21, 1899+2 God distinguishes in this way between those who use entrusted means for self-gratification and those who suffer in faith, representing Lazarus as blessed and commended by God.Lt 207, 1899, par. 7+1 When suffering came the rich man regretted his choices and would have given all he possessed to exchange places with Lazarus, but his neglect had left him with no opportunity to turn back when too late and answerable at the coming reckoning.ST Jun 21, 1899+3

Living for self and seeking possessions for one's own benefit cuts the soul off from life, while life is found in Christ and expressed in giving and self-sacrifice for others.COL 259.1–2 Selfish pleasure, luxury, and enjoyment are not happiness and not the sum of happiness, and earthly wealth and privilege do not make one truly rich or lead to Christ.ST Jun 21, 1899+2 Persons must not be valued by wealth or worldly honor, for God values true faith and moral worth rather than riches.1T 539.2–540.1 The parable contrasts those who do not depend on God with the poor who trust Him and patiently endure suffering, showing their positions one day reversed, so that the poor who trust God will be exalted above those holding high worldly positions who have not surrendered to God, while the wealthy without moral worth are rejected though a poor person may be precious to Him.COL 260.2–3+2

The duty to share with the hungry and poor and to heed the needy is a serious moral responsibility.ST Jun 25, 1894+1 Refusing to help those in need is the sin of Sodom, and ignoring their suffering brings woe.ST Jun 25, 1894+1 Dives stands as warning against enjoying God's gifts while failing practical mercy toward the helpless.ST Jun 6, 1900 That neglect is seen where multitudes in large cities are destitute of food, clothing, and shelter fit for a human being while in the same cities men of wealth have more than heart could wish and live luxuriously.STMW7 56.2 They spend on richly furnished houses, personal ornament, and gratification of sensual appetites such as tobacco and liquors that destroy power of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul, turning to selfish indulgence means given to honor the Creator by blessing the world and thereby dishonoring God, neglecting His heritage, and proving unfaithful stewards.STMW7 56.2 Those claiming to be sons and daughters of God must not feel at liberty to live in selfish enjoyment while Satan ruins fellow men, especially through intemperance, nor look on like priests and Levites without power to counteract evil.Ms 87, 1898, par. 26–29 They must lift a standard against the enemy and become human channels through whom the Saviour's pitying tenderness communicates treasures of food and clothing and fitly spoken words to wretched, fallen, hopeless beings, to restore the moral image of God in man.Ms 87, 1898, par. 26–29